Manufacture and distribution of gas.



T. J. WEBB B & s. B. LITTLE. MANUFACTURE AND DISTRIBUTION OF GAS. v APPLIO'ATIOK IIL'BED MAY 2, 1910. v 980,889 v Patented Jan. 331911.

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INVENTORS.

WITNESSES:

i r Fwd-Weber "v A AMld. .fl u/L BY ASE-Little v ATTORNEY.

rig: Alumna Ps'rlRs cm. wasnmaruu, v. c

T. J. WEBER & A. s. B. LITTLE.

MANUFACTURE AND DISTRIBUTION OF GAS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 2, 1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES:

ATTORNEY.

rue NORRIS PETERS cm. wasnmuron, u. c.

Patented Jan. 3, 1911.

T. J. WEBER & A. S. B. LITTLE. MANUFACTURE AND'DISTRIBUTION 0F GAS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY'Z, 1910.

Patented Jan. 3, 191 1.

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INVENTORS.

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WITNESSES: 6LW

- ATTORNE Y.

TRF. NORRIS PETERS co., wasnmcran, n, c.

nnrrnn s'ra'rns PATENT orricn THEODORE J. WEBER, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, AND ARCHIBALD S. 13. LITTLE,

OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

MANUFACTURE AND DISTRIBUTION OF GAS.

ceases.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 3, 1911.

Application filed May 2, 1910. Serial No. 558,979.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that we, THEODORE J. VEBER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State of Michigan, and Anonmann S. B. LITTLE, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Manufacture and Distribution of Gas, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof. 1

Our invention has relation to improve ments in the manufacture and distribution of gas; and it cons sts in the novel features more fully set forth in the specification and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure l is a plan of a gas-plant showing our invention applied thereto, the bu lding for the machinery and retorts being shown in section; Fig. 2 is an elevation of the main portion of the plant, parts in the rear being omitted; Fig. 3 is a broken elevation of the hydraul c main and vacuum tank or holder coupled thereto; and Fig. 4: is a cross section taken through the hydraulic main on the line l of Fig. 3.

The present invention is not restricted in its application to any particular gas, being applicable equally to ordinary illuminating gas made by the destructive distillation of coal, to water-gas, or producer gas, and in the drawings herein, the invention is shown in connection with both illuminating and water (or producer) gas.

Among the objects sought by the present system are (1) to insure a substantially constant and uniform pressure condition within the retorts (where retorts are employed as in the case of ordinary illuminating gas) such uniformity being brought about by establishing a substantially constant and uniform difference between the pressures in the dip-pipes discharging into the hydraulic main, and that of the gases above the liquid in the main; to maintain this uniform (and constant) difference between the aforesaid pressures irrespective of the rapidity or rate (and volume) of evolution of gas from the retorts, said difference remaining practically unaffected whether a retort is operating on a fresh fuel charge. or whether such charge has been partially distilled; (3) to provide suitable means in the shape of a vacuum-tank or receptacle having a fluctuating holder or bell for temporarily accommodating the variable quantities of gas evolved from the retorts, said vacuumtank constituting the immediate source of supply of the gas travers ng the system of cleaning machines ordinarily comprising in succession the condenser, washer, scrubber and purifier as well understood in the art; (4) to maintain in the system of cleaning machines ideal pressure conditions by means of an exhauster, or an exhauster and compressor combined, at the outlet or discharge end of said cleaning machines, the gas being drafted from the vacuum-tank through the machines into suitable storage or pressure tanks, and the exhauster-pump being operated at such speed as to take away approximately uniformly per hour the variable amount of gas made at d'fferent hours, and temporarily accumulated in the fluctuating vacuum-tank; to so construct the vacuum-tank or fluctuating holder that irrespective of the volume of gas temporarily accumulated therein, the load exerted on the exhauster or pump shall be substantially constant thereby making the rate of flow of the gas through the cleaning machines constant, which rate of flow may be varied according as the consumption may vary; (6) to interpose suitable means between the cleaning machines and exhauster-pump for regulating the intensity of the draft exerted by the pump on the machines; (7) to dispense with the usual gas holder or gasometer and in lieu thereof force the gas into suitable pressure-tanks from which the gas may be conducted into any service pipe operating under any predetermined pressure; and (8) to provide further and other features of construction and arrangement the advantages of which will be fully apparent from a detailed description of the invention. which is as follows Referring to the drawings, R, R, represent a bench of gas-retorts with the usual ascension pipes a terminating in the dippipes cl, the discharge ends of which extend a suitable distance below the surface of the liquid condensed and precipitated in the hydraulic main M. These features of course, are well understood in the art and require no further description. Leading from the hydraulic main M is a foul-pipe or main 1 which discharges into the holder or fluctuatinc member 2, said member being in the form 01 a vessel open at the bottom and op erating in a water seal in an outer tank as usual in the ordinary form of gasonieter or holder. in the present instance however, the nieii'ilior is so couuterweighted that the weights thereot constantly exert an upward pull thereoiu and thereby produce a partial vacuum in the holder above the surface of the water seal, said vacuum corresponding substantially to about a one-inch column oi water. The weights to are suspended by czbles or cords t passing over sheaves or pulleys 5 mounted on brackets 7) at the top of the tank 3. The holder 52 thereby hecinnes in etteet a ;'ht.ttitll't-lnl1l, the degree of vacuum depending on the gravity of the weights to. the vacuiun in the holder exerting; a suction or draft on the tool main 1, and hence on the gases in the hydraulic niain itl above the iiquid in said inain. The degree of this dratt or suction regulated by the bench governor t}, n'eif'erably on the order of that descriht d in U. S. Letters .latent 937,8 dated October 26. 1909, and in practice the governor 's so weighted as to produce a suction oi one-tenth oi an inch water column on the inlet side, the vacuum in the holder 2 beii kept near as possible to one inch water column. tie that it the dippipes have their discharge ends suhnet-god two-tenths of an inch be ow the level of the liquid in the hydraulic .n'iain the suction oil one-tenth inch (i 'ater column) exerted on the main will reduce the height or the liquid. column in the discharge ends of the dip-pipes one-tenth of an inch below the surface or level of the liquid in the main, thereby reducing the total height. 01" the column in the dip-pipe to oneteuth of an inch. It the dip ot the dip-pipes be threetenths of an inch. then the governor so weighted as to exert a suction of twotenths of an inch on the main. and thus again bring down the total ht; ghii of the column in the dip-pipe to onotenth oi an inch. it follows theretoie that the gases evolved from the retorts (or other source of gas supply) need de iress or displace a liquid column ct but; one-tenth of an inch in order to escape from the (lip-pi 'ies and bubble through the liquid acciunulatin in the main. "this liq uid or tar is ot course. drawn oil in the usual manner through a discharge or overflow pipe (3 as shown.

Leading from the vacuum tank or holder 2 a cond ictingr pipe T whi tries the gas from the holde 2 to i st of the machines or paratus ordinarily COiitj'lll... (l. a washer l l a scruhber or. and a purifier ll, all well understoml "in the art. and requirine no detailed. description here. tondncingr the purified from the purifier is a pipe 8 in equi alent appa the path of which is interposed a compeniating tank and governor on the order t that of G previously reterred to. and. a ins-meter 9 of an v approved type, the gas icing; witlulrawn from the ureter by a co1nnined exiaurster and conqiressor pinup l, which drives the gas into a primary pres sure tank 10 where it is stored to a pressure of approximatcl; seventy-five pounds to the square inclu whence it llows into a secondary pressure tank it where it is allowed to accumulate to a. pressure of say thirty-live pounds. a ci'invenient reducing: valve or governor 12 being provided for the purpose between the two tanks. FY0111 the tank ll the gas passes through a goreruor or reducing; valve 12-3 when it enters the service inain 14-. at a pressure ot' approximately one pound or any pressure in fact, to which the governor may he set.

The operation oi the invention and the theory of that ope ntion may be descrit ed follows1-Since the vacuum-tank or holder exerts a constant draft on the foul main and on the hvdraulic main, retilucing the liquid column in the lip-pipes to approximately a constant and uniform head of one tenth inel'u it follows that the resistance ottered to the passage of the gas (coming from the retorts) is represented by the depression of this reduced column. which when mercozne, allows the gas to freely bubble through the tarry and ainnwniacal liquor constantly depositing in and constantly withdrawn from the hydaulic iuain. Now, a one'inch vacuum in the tank or holder 2 represents a certain elevation of said holder unde the action of the counterweights, and as last as this vacuum is termed it is instantly tilled b3 the gas flowing into the holder past the governor G. as fast as the vacuum in the holder 2 is filled with the weights to reassert themselves and hit the holder so as to create more vacuuni which again fills with more gas, provided it is evolved in suliicient quantities from the re torts. It the evolution is greater with a fresh. fuel charge) than could he accominodated with a given rise of the holder under the act ion of the weights 1/), then the latter will keep on dropping and continue to raise the holder for the accounnodation of more ens; but at: all stares a positive d aft or suction would be exerted on the. foul and hydraulic mains. the degree of which would be regulated to maintain the column in the dip-pipes at substantially one-tenth of an inch in height (and where the dip is twotenths ot an inch. the top of this depressed coluinn would he one-tenth of an inch below the surface of the liquid in the hydraulic main). The suction, or exhausting action of the holder 2 therefore permits the holder to :wconnnodate any volume of gas which may he evolved (from the retorts) he the same great or small. If great, then the holder rises; if small, then it drops (owing to the abstraction of the gas therefrom by the exhauster pump P, and the resulting atmospheric pressure on the holder which acts in opposition to the weights w) so that it becomes a fluctuating holder, the fluctuations depending on the volume of gas temporarily accumulated therein. The holder 2 does not serve therefore as a holder or gasometer proper, but as a mere temporary gas retainer taking care of the variable quantities of gas coming from the retorts; but irrespective of that quantity the conditions within the retorts remain practically constant and uni-' form, by reason of the maintenance of a con stant and uniform depression in the liquid column in the dip-pipe, a constancy assured partly by the governor G, and partly by the constant abstraction of the gas from the vacuum-tank under the action of the eX hauster pump P. For it must be obvious that were the pump P to stop, the gas might keep on accumulating in the vacuum-tank 2 until the latter had been raised to its limit, after which the gas evolved from the retorts would cease to have an outlet. In the operation of our system, the draft on the vacuum-tank should be as near uniform and constant as possible. lVe of course, know the approximate resistance offered to its passage through the cleaning apparatus composed of the condenser, washer, scrubber and purifier respectively, and it becomes desirable that in view of this resistance the governor G be so set as to cause the gas to pass into the meter 9 at a constant, uniform and predetermined pressure on its way to the exhauster and compressor pump P. Naturally, the rapidity and intensity of the abstraction of the gas from the holder or vacuum tank 2, through the cleaning and purifying appara tus must be commensurate with the rate of generation and evolution of the gas from the retorts, but as to this, the governors may always be set to insure the required results. The positioning of the pump P beyond the purifier as against the prevailing method of interposing the pump between the condenser and foul main has a decided advantage, because even where in the latter case the pump is provided with any well known form of governor-controlled steam or gas-valve to vary its speed to meet-the conditions of variable evolutions of gas, we secure a better result by a pump drafting or sucking the gas through the cleaners and purifier, than by the old method of forcing the gas through this same apparatus; and this is even true where the rate of flow through the cleaners and puri fier may, for one reason or another, vary. \Vith our system however, this variation is negligible because the fluctuating holder or vacuum-tank 2 always maintains a constant and sufficient supply of gas to be drafted by the pump P; and should this supply eX- ceed the quantity discharged by the pump for any given speed of the latter, the pump may be increased in speed for the purpose. It is our aim however, to provide a vacuumtank of suflicient capacity to serve as a receptacle for a sufficient quantity of gas as not to necessitate any material change from that already outlined, in the pressure conditions between the foul and hydraulic mains and the ascension and dip-pipes (and consequently the gas retorts).

It may be added in passing, that the presence of the governor G prevents any material pulsations within the cleaning and purifying apparatus as a result of the reciprocations or rotations of the pump P, said governor likewise serving as a compensating tank which destroys such pulsations, the governor G being on the order of the governor G. So that the governor Gr serves to maintain the proper conditions not only in the cleaning and purifying apparatus, but also in the meter 9 as the gas is passing onward to the pump P. By 'the disposition of the vacuum-tank 2, governors G, G, and pump P as here outlined we are therefore able to maintain the proper working and pressure conditions throughout the entire system, both as to pressures, rate, and intensity of flow of the gas; and in so far as the retorts are concerned, we get a constant (and uniform) pressure condition within them without the need of a gas-pump or eXhauster between the hydraulic main and condenser. The pressure tanks 10 and 11 are of course, not indispensable to our system, but by virtue of the specific location of the exhauster and compressor pump P, they may be availed of, their immediate connection to the pump making it possible to use them for the purpose to which they are here put.

As was stated at the outset, the present system may be used with any gas; and in Fig. 1 we show in a conventional way a supplemental plant for manufacturing water gas (or for that matter it might be producer gas) in which a pipe conducts the gas from the gasometer into the hydraulic main, where, by absorbing the proper and available hydrocarbons from the tarry liquid in the main, the gas becomes enriched and mixed with the retort gas already described. Referring therefore, again to the drawings, 15 represents a steam boiler, a steam pipe 16 leading therefrom to an engine 17 which operates a blower or fan 18 supplying the necessary air to the coke-charge ofa gasproducer or furnace 19. Through the incandescent carbon in said furnace steam is passed from the boiler through a pipe 20, the water gas thus formed being conducted past a well 21 (to remove suspended impurities) through a pipe 22 into the gasomable gas retort, a vacuum tank in communieter or holder A pipe 24; conducts the wateras from the holder into the hydraulic main (dipping into the liquid therein) the emriched gas mingling with the retort gas, the combined gases being treated as already described. In lieu of water-gas, the furnace 19 may be used for making producer gas, and the holder 23 for storing the same. in which event the lilte treatment could be accorded the last named Features shown in the drawings, but not referred to are well understood in the art and require no description here.

Having described our invention, what we claim is: v

1. ln combiiuition with a hydraulic main a dip-pipe leading thereinto from a suit able gas-retort, a vacuum-tank in communication with the main above the liquid therein and. provided with a movable holder actuated to exert a suction on the main, thereby depressing the liquid column in the dis charge end of the dip-pipe below the level oi the liquid in the main.

2. in combination with a hydraulic main, a dip-pipe liading thereinto from a suitcation with the main above the liquid therein and provided with a fluctuating holder counter-weighted to exert a constant suction on the main. and a governor interposed in the path of the gases between the main and holder. thereby causing a constant and uniform depression of the liquid column at the discharge end of the dip-pipe below the level of the liquid in the main.

3. In combination with a hydraulic main, i

eeoeae a dip-pipe leading thcreinto from a suitable retort. a vacuunrtank in communication, with the main above the liquid therein and provided with a fluctuating holder co: ntcrwcia'hted to exert. a constant suction on the main, an exhauster pump for removing; the gas from the vacuum tank. and suitable cleaning and purifying appara tus interposed between the vacuum tank and exhauster pump.

1. In combination with a hydraulic main, a dip-pipe leading thereinto from a suitable gas retort. a vacuum-tank in communic: ;ion with the main above the liquid therein and provided with a fluctuating holder ceuutcrwcighted to exert a constant suction en the main, a governor interposed in the path of the between the main and bolder thereby causing constant and unit'orui dept ion of the liquid at the dis end of the dip-pipe below the level 'ie liquid in the main, an exhauster pinup for drawing the gases out of the vacuiun tank, and a suitable series of cleanring: and purilyi n51 apparatus interposed between the vacuum-tank and the pump.

in testimony whercoi we aitiiX our signatures, in presence o1. witnesses.

THEODQRE J. wanna. arcrnnaro n. LITTLE.

i vitnesses t'or Theodore J. Weber:

l GUARD ijiClIADDELEE, Faairiit T. C'ULswrr.

W'itnes s for Archibald S. B. Little:

llirin S'I'AIREK, Joe. A. Micnnr. 

